Physical activity motivating games

Abstract

Contemporary lifestyle is becoming increasingly sedentary with no or little physical activity being carried out. The nature of sedentary activity is self-reinforcing, such that increasing physical and decreasing sedentary activity is difficult. We present a novel approach aimed at combating this problem in context of computer games. Rather than changing the amount of physical and sedentary activity, we propose a new game design, referred to as play, mate!, which leverages the engagement with games in order to motivate players to perform physical activity as part of playing [1]. In this demonstration we will showcase the application of the play, mate! design to the Neverball game. © 2010 Springer-Verlag.